[A global event, The God's Tournament, has officially begun!]
[You are eligible for participation and will be teleported to one of the 64 waiting rooms shortly.]
All of the 6400 players were teleported inside their own waiting rooms, and if one of those players wasn't online, the 6401st player would be teleported instead, and so on.
Finn looked at the two messages in front of him and, with a deep breath, prepared himself for what was to come.
Additionally, he didn't forget to put on his mask, which was essentially useless at this point because he was bound to reveal his abilities, but he still wanted to avoid other players bothering him before the tournament started.
Soon, his body started to turn into light particles and disappeared shortly after.
When he opened his eyes, he saw 99 other players around him. Some were talking to each other, and some were just waiting for the tournament to start.
Everyone was standing inside a huge room that had white walls, a white ceiling, and a white floor with no decorations whatsoever.
The entire room was painted the same white color, so Finn couldn't even tell where the walls started.
Finn then looked around once more to see who his competition was.
He first searched for Leo, but he didn't find him in that room. It was expected since there were 64 rooms and the chances of him meeting his friend were pretty slim.
Finn then started to look for any strong players that he might remember. He scanned player after player, but nobody stood out.
'Hmm… Did I get lucky by not meeting anyone strong? This will be an easy win for me, then-'
His thought process was swiftly cut off after his eyes landed on a particular female player.
Long blonde wavy hair that sparkled like gold tied into a ponytail. Ocean blue eyes that were not only beautiful to look at but also had a certain depth to them.
Stunning eyelashes, a perfect nose, and red lips decorated her mature face.
The female player was smiling while talking to some players who were talking to her with flushed faces.
She was wearing armor, and even though the game was still in its beginning stages, her steel armor made her look like a medieval knight.
Almost all the players, including Finn, were staring at her, mostly because of how beautiful she was, but Finn had a different reason to look at her for so long with a stunned expression.
'Olivia Brightshield… Did I say I got lucky? I take that back. This is one of the worst opponents I could have been matched up against.'
Olivia Brightshield, also known as Twilight_Butterfly, was from a famous English family that had a long history of serving the king as his knights.
She was brought up as a knight too, so her skills with the sword and shield in the game were incredible. Not to mention that she was also one of the top ten players in Finn's previous life.
Olivia was not only an incredible damage dealer but could also play as a tank that was like an impregnable wall.
Being incredibly strong and having a gorgeous face, she instantly became one of the most popular players after almost winning this tournament.
In his previous life, she had placed third in the bracket tournament, and now Finn would have to win against her in this battle royale where only one person could move on to the bracket tournament.
'A head-on confrontation is off the table, and with her trained senses, you will have tough luck trying to assassinate her, so I think you should try to play it smart.'
Loki commented from the side after reading every piece of information about Olivia from Finn's memories.
Since Olivia was one of the most popular players in Finn's previous life, he used to be her avid follower, and he had a lot of information about her in his memories.
'Thanks genius! I knew that already, but what about telling me how to exactly deal with her?'
'I have already said enough, and my job here is done. The rest is up to you.'
'…'
Finn instantly became speechless when he heard Loki's dumb comment.
All Loki did was state the obvious facts and then quickly escape the conversation once it needed a person to use their brain.
Finn then thought about a tactic he was planning to use, and even with a strong opponent like Olivia, the tactic still seemed viable.
It was a tactic that a player used in Finn's previous life to win his battle royale round, so Finn planned to use it too, and since that player wasn't in Finn's waiting room, there wouldn't be a problem with them using the same tactic.
After a few minutes of waiting, the room shook a little, and on one of the walls, blue letters started to appear.
Once they had finished appearing, all the players looked at them and noticed that they were the rules of the tournament.
1. Teaming is not allowed (indirect help with the intention to assist someone is also not allowed).
2. Only one person can win the battle royale.
3. There will be supply boxes appearing every six hours that will bring the necessary supplies to survive.
4. The inventory function will be disabled.
5. All the items, excluding the player's equipment, won't be teleported with the player.
6. The playing zone will be surrounded by a poisonous gas cloud that will slowly move towards the center of the zone and cover the entire map in 24 hours.
7. There will be monsters roaming around the zone that won't provide any experience points.
8. The last surviving player will be considered the winner (the number of kills isn't taken into consideration).
FWOOSH
Finn had just about finished reading the rules when a person with wings appeared above the players.
She had white, straight hair that reached her feet. Her irises were black, and her face was incredibly breathtaking. It looked like it was too beautiful, so much so that it looked unnatural, like she wasn't human.
Wearing a white suit without a tie, she continued to flap her white wings to remain midair.
She looked down at the players with a stone-cold expression. It was so cold, in fact, that she looked like she wasn't able to use her facial muscles.
"I am the administrator assigned to this group, and my name is Dina. I was sent here to answer your questions you might have about the game, so if you have a question, raise your hand."
A beautiful voice that sounded like it belonged to a divine being resonated throughout the room.
The players who were too stunned to speak suddenly broke out of their daze and started raising their hands like obedient students asking the teacher for her permission to speak.
"You, the guy with the red mohawk, speak."
The angel pointed her finger at one of the players who had raised his hand.
"Yes, Miss Dina! I would like to ask about rule number 7, which says we won't get exp from the monsters we kill. Will we get exp by killing other players? And if not, wouldn't that mean that the players that aren't participating in the tournament would overtake us in levels by getting exp while we are playing in the tournament?"
The other players also raised their eyebrows, curious to hear the answer since, if what that player said was true, then that would mean that not joining the tournament might have been a better choice.
"No, you won't get exp from killing other players, and you don't have to worry since Second Life will be paused during the tournament so the players will either be participating or spectating."
With that answer from Dina, all of the worried players breathed a sigh of relief, and she swiftly went for the next person.
"The girl with cat ears, speak."
"Ah yes! I would like to ask about the supplies and all the items that are not allowed. Does that mean that we will have to find our own food and build ourselves a shelter to survive while also fighting other players?"
The female player tilted her head while putting an index finger on her chin.
"Yes, that is why there are monsters in the game even though they don't give exp. You will have to hunt for your own food and find a place to sleep. This part of the tournament will not only test your fighting skills but also your survival skills."
Dina continued flapping her wings as she continued explaining.
"One more thing, the supply box carries food, water, medicine, and other things that you might find useful if you aren't good at surviving in the wild."
When Dina said that, the atmosphere in the room got gloomy.
Most of these players were just your average humans who had food available to them in a supermarket and their shelter was their comfortable house.
But now they had to hunt for food to survive because if they couldn't find food, their bodies would grow weaker and the fights with other players would end up being really bad for them.
So these players all decided that they would go for the supply box because they didn't really have a choice.
Killing a monster is one thing, but knowing how to butcher it, prepare it, and cook it is a completely different thing.
The gods who made this tournament knew this, so they added the supply boxes in a clever way to bring the players together and start more fights.
"Black afro guy, speak."
Dina spoke, unaffected by the players below her, who looked like their grandpa just died.
"Yes ma'am! I have a question about the poisonous gas cloud that surrounds the area we will be in. If we have skills against poison, will they be effective against it?"
"No, it is made so that you won't be able to negate its effects, but if you want your lungs to bleed and your insides to be vomited outside of your body, you are free to enter it. The gas moves slowly, and you will be able to easily outrun it. You will also be able to survive inside it for as long as you can hold your breath, but I don't recommend entering it."
She finished speaking and then looked at everyone again.
"Any other questions?"
Dina looked around, but nobody raised their hands, so she decided to teleport the players inside the playing zone.
"Alright, once you are teleported, you will appear inside a forest, and you will be able to use a map function that shows you the position of the poisonous gas. It won't show anything else, as that is its only function."
After seeing that everyone was ready, she slightly nodded her head.
"Well then, best of luck to you all."
She clapped her hands, and all the players started to disappear one by one.
Finn looked at Olivia, who was starting to disappear, still smiling without a care in the world.
He furrowed his eyebrows and cunningly grinned at her.
'You might be stronger than me, but I still plan to win this tournament, so I am sorry, but you will serve as my first stepping stone to victory.'